Arthur was mad to say the least. He had just watched one of his knights die only for him then to witness another place his head on the chopping block. Arthur didn't understand why his father had stopped him from grabbing the gauntlet; Uther was always the first one to state that Arthur had to prove himself to his kingdom. That Arthur had to be willing to do the acts that his knights performed, he should be leading by example and from the front. Yet here his father had stopped him and he wanted to know why.
Arthur was hot on the heels of his father who was practically one stride away from running away from his son. Every step he took billowed his red cloak out behind him. Why was his father running away? Eventually Uther turned into the council chambers where Arthur finally caught up with him and asked the burning question.
"Why did you stop me?!"
"We have to give our knights the chance to prove themselves" Uther immediately answers, not even stopping to look back at his son.
"Have you seen how this stranger fights?!" Arthur argued quickly preventing Uther from ending the conversation before it properly began, though the king tried.
"And Sir Pellinor is more than a match for him."
"He's not recovered from the wounds he suffered at Othanden" Arthur exclaimed. Pellinor was a great knight, great swordsman, but it was unfair for him to fight when he was not at his best. It gave the Black Knight an advantage that they did not need him having.
"I can't help that" Uther grimly replied finally stopping his brisk walk. He turned around to face his son who looked at him in disbelief. Everyone knew that the king could stop the fight regardless of the Code; it was just not common practice - no need to upset the knights and cause a revolt.
"So you send him to his death?" Arthur asked in disgust. How could he do this?
"It was his choice to take up the gauntlet" Uther argued back before he turned and left, ending the conversation. "I am not to blame." Arthur watched as his father left. It was bloody typical of the king, to pass the blame off of himself. In Arthur's eyes, whatever happened tomorrow was on Uther's head, though the prince doubted Uther cared.
~8~
The burial vaults were cold and lifeless - which was a good thing but it didn't make Merlyn comfortable. Gaius had led Merlyn to the crypts in silence which caused Merlyn's worry to grow. First he makes the astounding suggestion that the Black Knight is not dead and then he drags her to the crypts - Merlyn wasn't exactly pleased. The pair stood at the top of the steps that led all the way down to the dead.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Merlyn asked. The only reason they could be going to the crypts would be to check out a grave. Merlyn wasn't sure how she felt about robbing a tomb, disrupting the rest of the dead.
"You're not scared, are you?" Gaius teased. Merlyn gasped in fake shock at the accusation. She loved these moments with her mentor.
"No, I love old crypts. I wouldn't be seen dead anywhere else" Merlyn commented with a smirk. Gaius only give the young witch a glare at her sarcastic comment - it was a comment that only Merlyn would make. Suddenly, the doors to the crypts slammed shut behind them, plunging the pair into darkness.
"Must've been a gust of wind" Gaius explained logically, however, that didn't bring any more light into the crypts.
"We should've brought a torch" Merlyn replied as she scanned the dark shapes for the unlit torches that had lined the walls. Lifting her hand up Merlyn pictured the wooden torch with the cloth bound on the end. "Leohtbora." With her eyes glowing gold, fire ignited at the end of the torch. The torch burned brightly filling the space with light and allowing Merlyn and Gaius to see one another.
"Huh. Handy" Gaius said as Merlyn picked up the torch in one hand and held it above the steps below them lighting the path.
"Quite" Merlyn agreed before she started making her way to the crypts linking her arm with Gaius on the way. Eventually they were walking around the crypts which held the kings and queens of Camelot, the princesses and princes too as well as the treasured knights. Merlyn was scanning the cold tomb uneasily as they walked in-between the great big stone sarcophagi that littered the crypt. Each stone sarcophagus had a stone figure on top that was lying on their backs with their hands folded in prayer, the figure in the likeness of the buried person. They were literally surrounded by the dead.
"W-What are we looking for?" Merlyn asked nervously. After Gaius has suggested that a member of the dead had come back to life Merlyn wasn't exactly thrilled to be in the thick of them.
"Tristan de Bois, the brother of Ygraine, Uther's wife" Gaius replied unaffected by their environment. Gaius was not scared of the dead it seemed.
"Arthur's mother?" Merlyn asked her head whipping around to face Gaius. Was Gaius finally going to tell her what was going on?
"Ygraine died in childbirth. Tristan blamed Uther and came to the gates of Camelot and challenged him" Gaius explained simply as he began checking the names on the sarcophagi, he was looking for one in particular.
"To single combat" Merlyn guessed. Was Gaius suggesting that Tristan was the Black Knight? Following the older man, Merlyn studied each of the stone figures; she recognised none of their faces or their names. Running her fingers along the stone she realised that they were engraved with dates ... these people died 20 years ago.
"Uther won. But in his dying breath, Tristan cursed Camelot to one day suffer his return. I thought it was the ramblings of a dying man" Gaius admitted
"Men don't just rise up from the dead, though, no matter how angry they are" Merlyn replied. Gaius took the torch out of Merlyn's hands and lifted it above a certain tomb. Gaius sighed at the sight he saw.
"It seems they do" Gaius said, Merlyn frowned as she looked around her mentor to find one sarcophagus ' top destroyed. Merlyn gasped as she noticed the rocks were surrounding the coffin, they weren't inside which meant that someone hadn't broken into the tomb .... someone had broken out.
~8~
The dead can walk, that wasn't a scary thought at all. Merlyn and Gaius had returned to their chambers after their discovery. However, neither were certain of how the dead were walking. Scouring the books Merlyn had found nothing but it seemed Gaius had.
"It seems we're dealing with a wraith" Gaius said from his desk.
"A wraith?" Merlyn asked as she got to her feet and made her way to Gaius' side. Looking over the older gentleman's shoulder Merlyn found herself staring at an image of a fighting skeleton that had risen from its grave.
"The spirit of a dead man conjured from the grave" Gaius read. Merlyn physically shivered at the picture and the ramifications of Gaius' words.
"So this is the work of a sorcerer?" Merlyn questioned.
"Powerful magic can harness the grief and rage of a tormented soul and make it live again" Gaius explained to her, Merlyn gulped at the words. This was bad on a whole new level. If someone could bring back the dead then they had to have unimaginable power. Merlyn wasn't sure she ever wanted to meet a person with that kind of power.
"How do we stop it?" Merlyn asked, she could only pray that Gaius had good news.
"We can't" Gaius said bursting Merlyn's bubble - so there was no good news then. And the witch could tell there was more bad news to come. "Because it's not alive, no mortal weapon can kill it."
"Surely there must be something" Merlyn answered in desperation. Was Camelot going to be stuck forever with this monster?
"Nothing can stop it until it has achieved what it came for" Gaius explained with a frown.
"Revenge on Uther" Merlyn finished. Gaius' silence was answer enough. They were in some trouble and the truth of the matter took her breath away. "Tristan is going to kill everyone to get to Uther. He'll pick us off one by one ... and his next victim will be Pellinor." Merlyn had to figure out a way to stop Tristan. There had to be another answer. She couldn't let anymore knights die. Leon could pick up the gauntlet next or heaven's forbid Arthur - Uther couldn't keep saving stopping his son. Uther certainly would not fight. Merlyn had to find a solution.
~8~
The Arena was full once again as the Black Knight - known only to Melryn, Gaius and Uther as Tristan De Bois -faced his next opponent but this time the crowd was cheering with joy. Sir Pellinor was obviously a stronger competitor than Owain had been. The crowd watched as the battle involved more of their swords clashing and Pellinor getting hits in. Arthur cheered as Pellinor raised his shield and slammed the Black Knight in the face with it. Pellinor was the better swordsman out of the pair and everyone knew it.
The expert strokes performed by both parties was impressive and skilled but soon enough the Black Knight went for his classic move of bringing his long sword down from above, Pellinor was ready. His shield was raised and as he protected himself from the long sword he stabbed his own sword into the Black Knight's unprotected gut. A gratefully gasp ran across the Arena.
Pellinor had gotten in a well aimed blow. The battle was over. The Black Knight had lost ... or so they thought. As Pellinor removed his sword everyone watched as the Black Knight just stood there. The crowd was clearly confused; everyone had seen the sword go in.
Suddenly the Black Knight swung his sword at Pellinor undeterred. Everyone was shocked and once again the Camelot Knight's shock was his downfall. Soon enough the Black Knight's long sword was buried deep into Pellinor. The crowd became completely silent.
Sir Pellinor fell. Arthur couldn't stand by and watch this anymore. He couldn't let anymore of his men die. Reaching down to his wrist, Arthur removed his own gauntlet. Glaring at the Black Knight he went to throw his gauntlet down.
The sound of a gauntlet hitting the ground filled the arena. However it wasn't Arthur's. Frowning at his hand, Arthur didn't understand why his own gauntlet was still in his hand. It was like an unforeseen force had kept his fingers clasped on the cool metal. Before any knight could pick up the Black Knight's gauntlet that lay upon the ground like a poisoned chalice, a strong but small hand wrapped around the metal. A gasp radiated through the arena as a voice spoke. A feminine voice.
"I accept."
A voice Arthur recognised. His eyes shot up in horror. Arthur felt the air rush out of his lungs. It was Merlyn! She was holding the gauntlet! This couldn't be happening. The Black Knight tilted his head towards the female servant before saying the three words that sealed her fate.
"So be it."
*******
Plot twist! Who saw that coming?
(Probably quite a few of you 😄)